Colm Toibin and Marie-Claire Blais Speak at King's
King's Event
Colm Toibin and Marie-Claire Blais Speak at King's
June 10, 2011 - June 12, 2011
The University of King’s College, Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia and the Flemming Lecture Series are pleased to present Colm Tóibín and Marie-Claire Blais as the keynote speakers for “It Must Be Nova Scotia: Negotiating Place in the Writings of Elizabeth Bishop”, a symposium taking place from June 10 – June 12. Toibin’s appearance is part of the Flemming Lecture series at King’s.
2011 marks what would have been the 100th birthday of the poet Elizabeth Bishop. A Poet Laureate and a Pulitzer Prize-winner, Bishop’s life and work was characterized by a keen understanding of the physical world and her desire to explore it. Yet throughout her travels she maintained strong ties to Nova Scotia. Her childhood was spent in Great Village, Nova Scotia, and many have argued that this period of her life had a lasting impact on her world-view and her poetry. Bishop’s enduring connection to Nova Scotia will be examined and celebrated in a series of events held by the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia, leading up to the Symposium at King’s.
Colm Tóibín is an award-winning novelist, short-story writer, journalist, playwright and literary critic. He has authored five novels (including The Master, winner of the Stonewall Book Award, the Lambda Literary Award and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2004), two short-story collections, several works of literary criticism and is a frequent contributor to the Dublin Review, the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Ulster and from University College Dublin. Tóibín will succeed Martin Amis as Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Manchester in September 2011.
French-Canadian author Marie-Claire Blais has made an indelible impact on Canadian fiction over her 40-year career. She has written over 20 novels, a number of plays, poetry and short fiction collections and newspaper articles. Her first novel, La Belle Bete is considered a classic of French-Canadian literature, while her second novel Une saison dans la vie d’Emmanuel garnered her the prestigious Pris Medicis at the age of 26. Her novel Soifs was awarded the 1995 Governor-General’s Award. She has also received Le Prix France-Québec, the W.O. Mitchell Literary Prize and the Prix Prince Pierre de Monaco, among other awards. All of her work has been translated into English as well as German, Russian, and Chinese.
Colm Toibin will be speaking on Friday, June 10 and Marie-Claire Blais will be speaking Saturday, June 11. Both lectures will begin at 7:30pm and will be held in Alumni Hall, New Academic Building, King’s campus, 6350 Coburg Road.
The Flemming Lecture, keynote addresses and sessions are free and open to the public. For more information, please visit ukings.ca.
Both speakers are available for interviews. For more information, please contact Alison Lang at (902) 422-1271 ext. 136 or by email at alison.lang@ukings.ca.
The schedule is now available and can be downloaded here.
You can register for the Symposium here.
